


if you flash your heart (i won't mistreat it)

by littlelamplight



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Hecate needs holding and Pippa will do the hold, I just have a lot of feelings about Hecate and that final, Post Agatha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:38:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13895424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlelamplight/pseuds/littlelamplight
Summary: It takes just over twenty four hours for news of the disaster at Cackles to spread. It takes a handful of seconds for Pippa to reach Hecate’s side.





	if you flash your heart (i won't mistreat it)

 

  
  


  
  


Pippa stumbles when the stones materialise under her feet, the world pitching slightly as she reaches out to steady herself with a hand on the wall. She groans, her head spinning, and she’s not sure if its a consequence of transferring so far, or because of what she’s learned. 

 

She probably should’ve taken the longer route, should’ve gone by broom, but her mind couldn’t process anything other than Hecate, Hecate, and that she’s not alright. 

 

She can’t be, not if the things her pupils whispered about and her fellow teachers gossiped about were true. 

 

Hecate was in trouble. She was in trouble, in danger, possibly trapped, if Agatha dealt with her the same way she dealt with Ada, and she didn't know.

 

She spoke to Hecate only a few days ago. She’d looked tired through the faint sheen of the mirror, tired but relieved, as she explained that Mildred had almost gotten herself trapped in another time, and Pippa, always yearning to be close since their reunion, wanting to ease the strain on her shoulders, had suggested she come visit.

 

Her own pupils might have been finishing their exams, but Pippa knew she could leave them, for an hour or a day or several, knew they'd be taken care of, would've done it in an instant, to be able to hold Hecate in her arms again.

 

But Hecate, always putting others first, had shaken her head. Suggested, in a halting, hesitant voice, that maybe she could come when exams were finished. When they had time.

 

There is a cold lump of dread resting heavy in her stomach, at the knowledge that something had gone horribly wrong, and she wouldn't have known until their next scheduled mirror call, wouldn't have known until it hadn't come, until it was too late, and it's all she can do to stop herself from transferring directly into Hecate’s classroom, rather than outside it. 

 

She needs to know that Hecate is alright. 

 

She gets noticed, of course. She stands too close to the door, fidgets too much, only notices when the door swings open, and she finds herself staring into Hecate’s face. 

 

‘What is -’, Hecate cuts herself off, the irritation draining from her face when she registers her presence, replaced by something close to bemusement. ‘Pippa?’

 

Pippa can hear the whisperings of the students behind Hecate, realises that they must’ve spotted her outside, that Hecate was prepared to be furious at the interruption, at whatever was distracting her students, but now, the woman just stares at her like she’s not sure if she’s real. ‘Hecate’, she says, keeping her voice low, ‘I’m sorry to interrupt’. 

 

‘That’s… that’s fine’. Hecate blinks, seems to regain some of her composure, and even though they’re relatively close, it’s hard to see Hecate’s face in the shadow of the doorway. She wants to step closer, wants to summon a light to her fingers so that she can see her face properly, but she doesn’t. Hecate glances over her shoulder at her students, and says tightly, ‘I… this is not a good time’. 

 

‘That’s alright’, Pippa says gently, resisting the urge to reach out and touch Hecate’s arm, to reassure herself that the woman is there, as silly as it seems. ‘I can wait, until after’. 

 

Hecate blinks again, but instead of replying, she simply turns on her heel, and returns to her class. Pippa settles against the wall outside, her arms folded over her chest, fingers clasping her elbows, and tries to force herself to calm down. 

 

Even if she couldn’t really see her properly, Hecate is here. She can breathe. 

 

She doesn’t have to wait long, thankfully, but by the time the students begin to file out, her magic is itching along her skin with impatience. It’s all she can do to stand perfectly still as she waits for the last students to file out, smiling at them pleasantly as they pass, and if the corners of her smile are just a little strained, well, they don't know her well enough to notice. 

 

Hecate does, but Hecate is standing with her back to her, her shoulders stiff and straight, her hands resting on the desk, fingers splayed against the surface, and Pippa wants to go to her and wrap her arms around her and tell her that it's alright and she's  _ so glad _ she’s alright, but she can't. 

 

Not yet.

 

Finally, the last student hurries past, and Pippa allows the door to click shut behind her as she steps into the room. Her throat suddenly feels very tight, and she thinks of the whispers she heard about the things that happened here, and her voice sounds a little strained when she says, ‘Hecate?’

 

Hecate trembles, her fingers pressing down against the desk, and if she were anyone else, if she didn't know Hecate so well, even after all these years, Pippa might miss the slight waver in her voice. ‘Pippa. What brings you here on such short notice?’

 

Pippa swallows tightly, folding her hands in front of herself in an attempt to quell the desire to reach for her. ‘You’, she says simply, and it's a little too raw and a little too honest, but she can't stand the idea of employing any kind of deception, Not after the things she's heard. ‘I wanted to… to see you’.

 

To say that she wanted to check if Hecate was alright might cause more harm than good, right now. 

 

Hecate’s shoulders lift, just a little, a barely perceptible shrug, and she says, ‘well, you've seen me’.

 

Pippa sighs. It's soft and sad and sounds heavy between them, and says quietly, ‘Hiccup’.

 

Just her name, just that name that was hers, Pippa’s, hers alone, that was whispered with smiles and gentle touches when they studied or lay side by side in the cold nights, when it was just them, and Hecate’s shoulders drop.

 

She turns, and Pippa fights the gasp that rises in her throat. 

 

Hecate, for all her calm and elegance, for all her composure, looks awful. There are dark bags beneath her eyes, the lines of her face deepened from strain and exhaustion, and Pippa takes a step forward before she can stop herself. ‘Oh, Hiccup…’ 

 

Hiccup looks away, as if ashamed of how exhausted she looks, of appearing as anything other than perfectly poised, and she murmurs, ‘I’ve been told I’ve looked better’.

 

Pippa's heart aches. It's different to that ache that accompanied every thought of her old friend during their separation, but it's no less painful, made worse somehow by the fact that it's for Hecate, rather than because of her.

 

She tries to chose her next words carefully, wishing that she could simply act, like she used to. ‘Have you been getting any sleep at all?’

 

Hecate’s jaw tenses, her hands flexing by her sides. ‘There has been much to do, after… after Agatha’.

 

‘So much that you couldn't rest?’ She can't keep the concern from her voice. Can't keep herself from inching a little closer, trying to narrow the space between them.

 

Hecate swallows, her eyes flicking up and away, too fast for Pippa to read anything in her gaze, though perhaps the movement itself is telling. ‘It's my responsibility, Pippa’.

 

‘As deputy head?’

 

Something shifts in Hecate’s face, something dark and awful, the corners of her mouth pinching before she manages to school her expression, but Pippa has seen that look before, all too often, since their reunion. 

 

It's guilt. 

 

She’s so startled by the sight, in this context, that she can't help the gasp that leaves her. ‘Hecate… you have to know that what happened with Agatha wasn't your fault’.

 

‘And what do you know of what happened?’ The harshness of the question, the snap in Hecate’s voice, is somewhat softened by the tremble of her closed fists by her sides, and even after all these years, Pippa recognises the defensive stance. 

 

She bites her lip slightly, thinking of the rumours and the whispers and the wide eyes of her students. ‘That Agatha took over. That she nearly destroyed the school when the students rebelled. That she was more powerful than even the Grand Wizard’.

 

In truth, she doesn't know what happened to Hecate during Agatha’s reign, and that is what has her stomach twisting in knots. 

 

Hecate makes a sound reminiscent of a laugh, but it's too harsh and too bitter, choking somewhere in her throat as it leaves her, and Pippa can't help it take a step closer. ‘So you haven't heard about how I cast a protective charm on the school but left the loophole that allowed Agatha to be let in? Or that I let her take over, when I could've stopped her? Or that she wasn't nearly powerful enough to stop the Great Wizard, but that I helped her? That I… that I did nothing while the school crumbled?’

 

Pippa’s throat tightens, like a hand closing around her windpipe, and she says quietly, ‘if any of that is true, you must have had your reasons’.

 

Hecate scoffs. ‘How can you be so sure?’

 

‘Because I know you’. She says it perhaps a little too vehemently, a little too open, her voice ringing with emotion she's tried to keep buried, but she won't take it back. She won't let Hecate blame herself for things that aren't her fault.

 

Hecate trembles, her knuckles whitening, and the muscles in her throat work like she's having trouble swallowing. Pippa steps closer, reaching for the woman, wishing that she could embrace her, having to be content with carefully touching the back of Hecate’s hand with the tips of her fingers. Hecate’s eyes close, and Pippa says, ‘what really happened?’

 

Hecate’s lips purse, and she says, a little desperately, ‘you really won’t leave it alone?’

 

Pippa’s heart hurts. ‘Hecate… if you really don’t want to talk about it, I won’t force you to’. Hecate’s brow furrows, and even though her eyes are closed, Pippa can see that the concept confuses her. Her heart twists, and she forces herself to keep her voice steady even as anger at anyone who ever forced Hecate to do things she didn’t want to do rises hot and scalding in her throat. ‘It’s just me, Hiccup. I won’t push’. 

 

Hecate’s lower lip trembles, and Pippa watches her press them together in an attempt to stop it, and risks sliding her fingers over the back of her hand, letting her thumb brush the inside of her index finger, and relief swoops in her stomach when Hecate’s curls her thumb over her own, until their hands are clasped in a hesitant half hold. She’s almost dizzy with it, and as a result, she almost misses it when Hecate says quietly, ‘I… forgot’. 

 

‘Forgot what?’

 

‘That… well, that you’re you’. She scoffs. ‘Silly, isn’t it’. 

 

Pippa steps closer, giving a firm shake of her head, and says quietly, ‘it’s not silly, Hiccup. Not to me’. 

 

Hecate’s lips twitch, and something in her posture softens. She leans back against the desk, her fingers flexing around Pippa’s hand, and she mutters, ‘you always were too kind to me’. 

 

The weight behind the words stuns her, and she wants to protest, wants to prove, to show Hecate, that that isn’t true. But Hecate has opened her eyes to look at her, and before she can say anything, the woman says, ‘I know you’d like to think otherwise, but the loophole… it was stupid, and foolish of me’. Pippa waits, giving Hecate’s hand an encouraging squeeze, trying to communicate that she can take her time without saying so. Hecate takes a deep breath, her jaw clenching like she’s trying to stay controlled, and says, ‘I made the mistake of allowing students, as well as members of staff, to invite someone in. And, inevitably, Agatha succeeded into fooling one of our students that she was Ada. I should… I should’ve seen it coming’. 

 

Pippa bites her lip, hesitating for a moment before she says quietly, ‘Mildred?’

 

Hecate huffs a pained sound, and shakes her head. ‘Esmeralda, our head girl’. She huffs. ‘Not to say that Mildred had nothing to do with it’. 

 

Pippa raises her eyebrows slightly, surprised by the lack of the hostility and frustration usually evident in Hecate’s voice whenever she speaks of Mildred, but she doesn’t question it. She watches, instead, as Hecate’s brow furrows, and she says, ‘there was… did you hear that Agatha was the rightful heir, all this time? That  _ she _ was the eldest?’

 

‘I had’, she says quietly, ‘but I assumed it was just a rumour’. 

 

Hecate shakes her head. ‘No. Mildred discovered the secret purely by accident when she was trapped in the past with Ethel. She and Ada… kept it to themselves. And Ethel, with her ridiculous feud with Mildred, decided that she absolutely had to know why Mildred was having private sessions with Ada’. Something flickers in Hecate’s face, something that Pippa can’t quite read, and then Hecate casts her eyes down. ‘Mildred told her some tall tale about being Ada’s niece, after Ethel impersonated Maud Spellbody to find out. Ada… was perhaps unusually stern towards Mildred, and as a consequence… Mildred believed that Agatha had somehow replaced Ada’. In an uncharacteristic display of exhaustion, Hecate lifts her hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, and Pippa aches to make everything better. ‘It was all downhill from there. Mildred left the school to ‘rescue’ Ada, and by the time anyone realised that Agatha had returned, it was too late’. 

 

Pippa lets out a long breath, trying to quell the frustration rising in her gut, frustration at Ethel, for forcing Mildred into a situation that wasn't her fault, and to Ada, for not clarifying, for not reassuring Mildred, for not telling Hecate what was going on, because she knows, now, she understands what that strange flicker of emotion was, that Hecate was hurt that Ada didn't tell her. After a beat, she says, ‘well, that explains why -’

 

‘Why I did nothing?’ That sharp, bitter note of self hatred is back in Hecate’s voice, and she tenses like she wants to pull her hand away. ‘Why I stood by and let Agatha take control? Why I  _ helped  _ her, when I could've… I could've…’

 

‘Agatha was the rightful headmistress’, Pippa says gently, clasping Hecate’s hand in both of hers, yearning to comfort her in a more physical way. ‘The Code forbade it’.

 

Hecate’s teeth grind together, and Pippa winces a little at the sound of it. ‘Maybe Mildred was right’, she mutters, ‘maybe the Code is unfair’.

 

‘That's never been in any doubt’. Hecate glances up at her quickly, surprised and a little suspicious, and Pippa sighs. ‘The Code can damage as much as it can protect. We… we’re taught to obey it, no matter the circumstances, and it can… trap us in situations where we can’t get out of, simply because the Code forbids it’. 

 

For a brief, blinding moment, Pippa thinks she’s hit closer to home than intended. Hecate goes very still, and something shutters behind her eyes. Her hand in Pippa’s goes slack, and even though she doesn’t pull away, it is apparent from the blankness of her face and the hollowness of her eyes, that she’s not really there. 

 

‘Hecate?’ Pippa can hear the panic in her own voice, even as she tries to reign it in, even as she tries to remain calm, lifting her hand hesitant to touch Hecate’s cheek. Hecate remains unresponsive, even as her breathing hitches and turns shallow, and Pippa can see the years between them stretching out like a great chasm between their bodies. 

 

Once, she would’ve known exactly what was wrong, what had happened, what she’d said, what someone else had said, even if she never knew exactly what awful things the other girls said, because Hecate wouldn’t tell her. But she’d know, she’d know how to help, she’d be able to draw Hecate close to her body and bring her back, and not for the first time, she’s struck by just how much she’s missed. 

 

That she has no idea what Hecate’s been through these past few decades, who or what hurt her, and she can’t stop the tears that rush up behind her eyes. 

 

She strokes her thumb back and forth over Hecate’s cheek, stepping closer until she can feel the warmth of Hecate’s body through their dresses, hoping to ground her with her physical presence, and whispers, ‘Hiccup? Hecate… you’re safe. It’s alright’. 

 

Hecate blinks several times, and one of her hands settles on her waist, curling tight in the fabric, and Pippa bites her lip, reaching up to frame Hecate’s face in both her hands. ‘That’s it, Hiccup’, she says, as calmly as she can, ‘come back to me’. 

 

She’s too concerned to panic at the slip, too focused on bringing Hecate back to think about how close she’s come to revealing the things she keeps close to her chest. She continues to murmur soft reassurances, gently stroking Hecate’s cheek, and Hecate’s oher hand clutches at her back, drawing the fabric tight over her torso. 

 

The light returns to Hecate’s eyes all at once, the breath rushing into her lungs, and her body sags against Pippa, her head falling forwards into her hands, and when she speaks, its as a whine. ‘Pippa?’

 

Pippa manages a smile, small and trembling, and whispers, ‘there you are’. 

 

Hecate doesn’t release her grip on her, even as her mouth pinches, shame and embarrassment curling around her irises just like it did when they were children, and Pippa says fiercely, ‘no, Hecate. THere is no shame in what just happened’. 

 

Hecate’s jaw clenches, but she doesn’t say anything. Her hands remain fisted in her dress, her eyes averted and downcast, and Pippa can feel how she’s still trembling. ‘I’m sorry -’ 

 

‘Hiccup’. 

 

Hecate sags a little, though whether its because of the nickname or the way she says it, soft but stern, Pippa doesn’t know. 

 

Pippa doesn’t ask what happened, what it was about what she said that sent Hecate retreating into herself. She just continues to stroke Hecate’s cheeks softly, and murmurs, ‘do you want to go somewhere more private?’

 

The words could mean something else entirely, and Pippa has thought about saying them in a different context many times, but right now she just wants Hecate to feel comfortable, and safe. 

 

Hecate responds by flexing her fingers, a twitch Pippa is sure she wouldn’t feel if they weren’t pressed so close, and transfers them away. 

 

Pippa doesn’t spare a glance for their surroundings, instead keeping her eyes trained on Hecate’s face. She shifts, trying to test whether the woman would prefer her to step away, but Hecate’s fingers curl tighter, pulling the fabric taut over her stomach, and a strangled sound vibrates in her throat. ‘I”m here’, Pippa says quickly, and even now, those simple words can feel so weighted. ‘It’s alright’. 

 

Hecate closes her eyes, and Pippa releases her face to slide her arms around the woman, slowly, watching to see if it’s unwelcome, and rests her hands gently on her back. Hecate remains still for a heartbeat, but she sinks into the embrace a moment later, and Pippa can feel the warmth of her skin when her cheek presses against her neck. She shivers at the contact, but tightens her grip, tries to keep her mind off how good it feels to have Hecate in her arms like this, and murmurs, ‘we can stop talking about what happened, if you want’. 

 

Guilt worms its way up her throat when Hecate remains silent, and she adds, ‘I’m sorry for pushing’. 

 

For pushing now, for not pushing when it mattered. For not going after her, all those years ago, for not trying to find out why she hadn’t turned up. For assuming the worst. 

 

For not being there. 

 

She has her own insecurities, her own doubts about her self worth, her own beliefs that she wasn’t good enough for Hecate that had hounded her all through those years, that only left her when Hecate looked at her with tears gleaming in her eyes, her lips pressed together as if it could help, that she had realised that she’d let those insecurities get the better of her, and that Hecate had been suffering from the same self hatred. 

 

She could’ve saved them so much pain and heartbreak if she’d just gone after her when it mattered. 

 

Hecate pulls back quickly, and there is a hint of panic in her eyes. ‘No, no, Pippa… it wasn’t… you didn’t do anything’. 

 

‘I shouldn’t have pressured you’. 

 

‘You didn’t’. 

 

‘Hecate -’ 

 

‘I wanted to tell you’. The muscles in Hecate’s throat constrict as she swallows, and she’s staring at her like she’s forcing herself not to look away. ‘I know… I know it didn’t seem like it. But I… I wanted - want to tell you. You… you always make things better’. 

 

Pippa lets out a shaky breath, breathing through the guilt and that awful feeling resting in her gut that she did hurt Hecate, somehow, all those years ago, and murmurs, ‘then… if you want to keep telling me… I’m here’. She watches the hesitation flicker over Hecate’s face, and adds, ‘and I’d like to hear what happened. It’s why I came here’. 

 

She wants, desperately, to ask what just happened, even if she doesn’t, even if she has no right. She wants to know who hurt Hecate so badly. 

 

She wants, a sharp, bitter taste at the back of her throat, to make them hurt in return. 

 

She takes a slow, deep breath, searching Hecate’s face as the woman remains silent, frowning slightly, and says, ‘what is it?'

 

'I...' Hecate looks away, her jaw working, and Pippa shifts her fingers against her shoulder blades, finds the knots in her muscles, and presses, hoping to work them loose. Hecate's eyes flutter shut, her breath hitching, and she mumbles, 'it was a silly thought'.

 

'No thought from that beautiful mind of yours could ever be silly'. 

 

Hecate swallows, and this close, Pippa can see the faint flush that rises underneath her collar. 'I... I wished... that you were here. During all that chaos. It was a... a selfish thought', she says in a rush, as if afraid of how Pippa might interpret her words. 'If you'd come here, it would've made things so much worse. But still, I... I couldn't help it’.

 

Pippa bites her lip, and despite everything, her stomach flutters pleasantly. ‘Oh, Hecate… do you really think that that’s such an awful thing?’

 

Hecate nods, and Pippa bites down on her lip a little harder. ‘Of course it is. That I should wish you in harms way, it -‘

 

‘You didn’t want me in danger, Hecate. You just wanted me with you’. She hesitates, before realising that with Hecate open and vulnerable and laying her thoughts bare, it’s only right that she do the same. ‘I would’ve wanted the same’. 

 

Hecate blinks, her lips parting in surprise, and her voice wavers a little when she says, ‘you… you would’ve?

 

‘Of course’. Pippa smiles softly, strokes her fingers up and down Hecate’s back, watching the way she trembles, and with her heart beating an erratic rhythm against her ribs, lets herself say, ‘things are always better when we’re together’. 

 

Hecate inhales sharply, her eyes fluttering shut, and Pippa leans forward to rest her head against Hecate’s shoulder, giving her a moment of privacy without having to pull away from her, and Hecate shivers. Her head tilts to rest atop Pippa’s, and Pippa closes her eyes, stroking random patterns over her back, listening to the shift of her fingers over the fabric, to the shaky breathing by her ear, and something in her flutters when Hecate grips her a little tighter. 

 

She’s not entirely sure if she could articulate just how much she’s missed Hecate if she tried, but this, the simple act of holding, and being held by her, is one of things she’s longed for the most during their separation. She closes her eyes, and murmurs, ‘how’s Mildred?’

 

‘Mildred?’ Hecate sounds surprised, but Pippa is glad to hear that her voice is a little steadier. ‘She’s fine. Why wouldn’t she be?’

 

‘I just… assumed this wouldn’t be the best place for her during Agatha’s reign, considering that she thwarted her last time’. 

 

‘I sent her home, when Agatha first took over’. Hecate huffs, a exasperated, softer sound than usual. ‘She came back of course. Silly girl’. 

 

Pippa can’t help the smile that stretches across her face. ‘You almost sound fond of her, Hecate. Maybe she’s growing on you’. 

 

‘Like fungus’. 

 

Pippa chuckles lightly, nuzzling almost absently into the crook of Hecate’s shoulder, and says, ‘if you say so’. 

 

Hecate sighs, and Pippa’s mouth turns down at the heaviness in her voice. ‘Maybe she would be better off at your school’. 

 

Pippa pulls back, frowning slightly. ‘I thought you were pleased that she was staying’. 

 

Hecate shakes her head. ‘It’s not that’. 

 

A muscle is jumping in her jaw, and Pippa wants to reach out and smooth it away with her thumb. So she does, lifting her hand from Hecate’s back to gently frame her neck, sweeping her thumb over the twitching muscle. Hecate tenses for a moment, but relaxes as Pippa continues the motion, and murmurs quietly, ‘because I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t protect any of them’. 

 

‘Hecate -’ 

 

‘You were right. I did… have a reason for doing all those things, aside from… the Code. I thought that attempting to stop Agatha would only put the girls at risk. And everything I did… standing by, helping Agatha entrap the Great Wizard… it did nothing’. Hecate’s lower lip trembles, and she looks away, looks down, but her hands remain clutching at her back, and Pippa keeps her hand curled gently at her neck, waiting. Hecate takes a slow, deep breath, and murmurs, ‘I… I tried to get Ada out of the painting Agatha was holding her in. But I wasn’t… fast enough’. Pippa thinks she heard another word on the tip of Hecate’s tongue, another weight behind her eyes, and it twists painfully between her ribs, the knowledge that even now, all these years later, Hecate still thinks she isn’t good enough. 

 

‘What happened?’

 

Hecate shivers, though whether its at the softness with which she voices the question, or the memory of the event, Pippa doesn’t know. ‘She trapped me in the painting with Ada’. 

 

Horror claws its way up Pippa’s throat, prickling in the form of angry tears in her eyes, and by the time she’s got her anger under control, Hecate is saying, ‘and then she tried to destroy the school. And for all my… efforts, I could do nothing. I just… I had to…’ 

 

She trails off, and pressed this close to her, Pippa can hear the whimper that catches at the back of Hecate’s throat. ‘Oh, Hiccup… come here’. 

 

Hecate sways for a moment, as if caught in indecision, caught in letting herself give in to what she might call weakness, but in a way, Pippa isn't surprised when Hecate finally gives in, and crumples against her.

 

She learned very early on in their friendship that Hecate hated to feel trapped. Small spaces filled her with anxiety and could send her into a panic, at least until she was confident enough in her magic to know that she could get out. People looming into her space or touching her in a situation where she felt unable to stop it caused her to shut down, and even as a child, in the early weeks of their friendship, Pippa found herself easily stirred to anger, to defence, to lash out, at anyone who made her uncomfortable.

 

Hecate hadn't understood it. She probably still doesn't, now, would probably be surprised to know she remembers, but Pippa could never make herself forget Hecate. 

 

She knows what being trapped in that painting must have done to her.

 

Hecate has found sanctuary against her shoulder, her back curved and trembling, and Pippa wraps her arms more securely around her, rocking them gently, and closes her eyes. 

 

The first time she saw Hecate cry was a week before the end of their first term together. Pippa had been excited, because as much as she loved magic and learning and their school, as much as she loved being with Hecate, she loved her parents, loved her home, and she’d asked whether Hecate was looking forward to going home. Hecate had looked away, the corners of her eyes pinching in a way that made her look older than her handful of years, and shaken her head. Said, in a voice so small Pippa almost hadn’t heard her, that she wasn’t wanted there. 

 

And Pippa, young and baffled as to how someone couldn’t want Hecate around, had said that she should come home with her. That it was ridiculous that she wasn’t wanted around. 

 

She’s not sure which of them was more surprised when Hecate started crying. 

 

Hecate cries differently, now. Her sobs aren't as violent, aren't as devastating, as they used to be. Her body still shakes, but the noises she makes are contained to soft, shuddering breaths and hiccups, as if even in this, she’s been taught to remain controlled, and disciplined. 

 

Pippa wants to tell her that she can let go, that it's alright to cry without holding herself back, but she's afraid of pushing again, afraid of it being too much too soon, and so instead she strokes her back, cups her head, fingers curved at the base of her skull, and murmurs soft, reassuring nonsense into her hair. 

 

She doesn’t know how long they stand there like that, but gradually, Hecate falls silent, her shakes becoming trembles, and Pippa can feel that the material of her dress is soaked. ‘I’m sorry’, Hecate mumbles at last, her breath hitching on a final sob, ‘I’m afraid I’ve made a fool of myself’. 

 

‘Don’t, Hecate’. She tries to sound firm, but her voice wobbles. ‘Please don't apologise’.

 

Hecate lets out a heavy sigh, nuzzles into her shoulder. ‘Pipsqueak?’ 

 

‘Yes?’ 

 

‘I… I’ve missed you’. 

 

A vice squeezes painfully around her throat, and she has to swallow several times before she's able to speak. ‘I’ve missed you too’. 

 

Tears rush up to burn her eyes, squeezing stubbornly past tightly closed lids, and even as she tries to keep quiet, she knows that Hecate will feel the way her shoulders have started to tremble.

 

She can tell the exact moment she does, because she goes rigid. ‘Pippa?’

 

Pippa swallows tightly, opens her mouth to try and reassure her, but all that comes out is a ragged sound like a sob, and she presses closer instead of pulling away to speak. 

 

‘Pippa?’ There is panic in Hecate’s voice now, fear, that something is wrong, that she's done something wrong, and it just makes the burn in her throat worse. ‘Pipsqueak?’

 

Pippa’s breath hitches, and she pulls back to rub at her eyes, angrily trying to gain her composure. She shouldn't be doing this, not right now, Not when Hecate needs her.

 

But she needs Hecate, too, and she almost lost her, and her vision blurs with a fresh wave of tears. 

 

‘I’m sorry’, she mumbles, ‘I… I’m being silly’.

 

‘Nothing about you is silly’. Hecate’s voice is still tight with fear, but it's softened with sincerity, and Pippa wonders if she's consciously echoing her earlier words. Hecate’s cool hand touches her wrist, and she whispers, ‘what is it?’

 

Pippa shudders, glancing up at Hecate through her fingers, and it hurts to see the pain in her face. She drops her hands, curls them tight in the collar of Hecate’s dress, and says, ‘I just… you could've…’ 

 

She can't bring herself to say the words, but Hecate’s eyes widen slightly, almost like she’s surprised by how much the possibility has shaken her, and Pippa has never hated herself so much as she has since their reunion, since she realised that somehow, she must've let Hecate believe she meant less than everything to her. 

 

She presses her lips together, sucks in a ragged breath, and chokes, ‘I just got you back. If you… I couldn't bear it’.

 

Hecate’s eyes are so wide it would almost be comical in another situation, and Pippa swallows a whine when Hecate curves her palm against her cheek. Her hand is cool and smooth and fine boned, just like she remembers, and she turns her cheek to press against her palm. Hecate shivers, and she says, in a sudden rush, ‘I lied’.

 

Pippa blinks, trying to clear her vision enough to look at her, thrown by the words. ‘What?’

 

Hecate looks like a deer caught in the headlights, like she hasn't meant to let that out. She licks her lips, and says hauntingly, ‘I… when I… I told you… why I stopped… why I…’ she stops, swallows tightly, her eyes over bright, and it hurts to see how much effort it takes her to express herself, still, all these years later. ‘I didn't… tell you everything. I thought it was… best… but when I was in the painting… when everything was falling apart… I wished… I wished I’d told you’.

 

Pippa becomes aware that her heart is pounding, that Hecate can undoubtedly feel it, and she has a half formed idea, a terrible, desperate hope, of where this might be going. She swallows, tries to speak even though her mouth suddenly feels dry, and whispers, ‘told me what?’

 

Hecate seems to flounder. Her jaw works, her lips part, and she mumbles, ‘Pipsqueak’.

 

She says it like she wants Pippa to help, to take initiative, to understand what she's trying to say, but Pippa’s heart is too fragile, too afraid, to risk moving, when she might be mistaken. To risk scaring Hecate away, and losing her again, in a different way. She bites her lip, curls her fingers tighter in Hecate’s collar, and breathes, ‘Hiccup’.

 

And Hecate kisses her. 

 

She kisses her with her hand on her cheek and her fingers curled tight in her dress, a little clumsily, a hint of teeth against her lower lip that speaks to the desperation Pippa can feel vibrating in her bones. Pippa groans, a sound lost between them when she lets her lips part, when she kisses her back, tugging her closer by her grip on her collar, kisses her like she’s been starving, and maybe she has, because she can’t believe that she’s gone so long without this, without feeling Hecate’s lips beneath her own. 

 

Hecate’s lips are softer than she imagined, just like she herself is softer than she seems, and a thrill curls up Pippa’s spine at the sound Hecate makes, a whimper spilled into her mouth, her nails scratching lightly at the hinge of her jaw, and she slips her hand from Hecate’s collar to clutch at the nape of her neck, pressing closer even though there is no where to go.

 

She breaks the kiss with a gasp, and Hecate breathes, ‘I love you’. She’s shaking, her lower lip trembling, ‘I always have. And that's… that's why -’

 

Pippa kisses her again. She kisses her to silence the inevitable apology, the explanation, because she doesn't want to think about that painful  separation or how much it hurt, not when Hecate’s mouth is warm and soft and inviting. 

 

Not now, when she’s just heard the words she’s longed to hear for so many years.

 

‘I love you too’, she whispers, her mouth catching on Hecate’s top lip as she tries to speak without pulling away, ‘oh, darling, I have for so long’.

 

Hecate whimpers, and Pippa tastes salt when she kisses her again. ‘I’m sorry’, she says, and when Pippa pulls back, her eyes are wide and wet, and Pippa had almost forgotten how expressive her eyes are, how much she  _ feels  _ when she lets it show. ‘I’m sorry, Pipsqueak, I’m sorry I didn't tell you. I just… I couldn't, I c-couldn't -’

 

‘Shhh’, Pippa leans in to kiss the corner of her mouth, resting her forehead gently against her cheek. ‘It's alright. You've told me now, my brave, brave Hecate’.

 

Hecate sighs, leaning against her in a way that reminds her of when they were young, even if the context was so different. ‘Only several decades too late’. 

 

Pippa chuckles, nudges at Hecate’s cheek with her nose, and murmurs, ‘does this feel like it’s too late?’

 

Hecate flushes, a beautiful colour high on her cheekbones, and the corner of her mouth ticks up, just a little, a small thing that still has the power to send Pippa’s heart racing. ‘No, I suppose not’. 

 

She seems to hesitate, in that way she used to whenever she wanted something, and felt unable to ask. As much as it hurts to see that, that that hasn’t changed, Pippa is glad at least that she’s able to recognise it, and now, capable of giving Hecate whatever she wants. ‘What is it?’

 

Hecate takes a deep breath, and says, ‘I… I still have a few classes to tend to, and there will be rounds later, but I was… afterwards… will you…’ Hecate trails off, gnawing anxiously on her bottom lip, and as embarrassed as she looks, there is a tentative hope in her eyes. 

 

This time, with her heart full of love and joy, Pippa takes initiative. ‘I was hoping to stay for a few days. Exams have finished, and term will be ending soon’. 

 

Hecate blinks, a little owlishly, like she wasn’t expecting it despite the hope. ‘You… you’ll really stay?’

 

‘Of course’. Pippa kisses her cheek, lets her lips linger, and murmurs, ‘I wanted to, anyway. Before… this. But now… well, I’ve always prefered being by your side to anywhere else'. 

 

Hecate’s blush darkens, and there is a lightness in her eyes that Pippa hasn’t seen in years. ‘I… if you’re sure… I mean, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I…’ 

 

‘It’s not’, Pippa says quietly, leaving behind the levity for a touch of seriousness she knows Hecate needs. ‘Not at all. I  _ want  _ to be here’. She bites her lip, lifts her hand from Hecate’s collar, and runs her thumb over the woman’s bottom lip. Hecate’s eyes flutter, and Pippa smiles. ‘I want to be with you’. 

 

How many years has she longed to say that? 

 

Hecate inhales sharply, and responds by leaning in to kiss her. It’s an easy, natural extension of that silent communication they used to have when they were younger, and Pippa kisses her back eagerly. 

 

‘I should… ask Miss Cackle first’, she says when she finally comes up to breathe. ‘If I can stay’. 

 

Hecate makes a sound not unlike a petulant child. ‘What will you tell her?’

 

‘Oh, you know. Wanting to support a fellow Headmistress in a time of hardship. Hoping to help ease the stress. Something like that’. She smiles, remembering the odd twinkle in Ada’s eyes when she saw them standing together, later, after Mildred’s blessed medling. ‘Though, I’m not sure she’d be surprised if we told her the truth’. 

 

Hecate grumbles again, shifts a little, and there is something shy in the way she averts her eyes. ‘I… I think I would… rather keep it between us’. 

 

‘Do I embarrass you?’ Pippa teases, ‘too much pink?’

 

‘No!’ She startles a little at the sudden strength to Hecate’s voice, and the intense focus of her gaze. ‘No, I just…’ 

 

‘I was teasing, Hiccup’. She was, even if she remembers when she used to wonder about it, when she used to wonder if she, too pink and too frivolous, too bright and cheerful, embarrassed her best friend sometimes. 

 

Hecate’s eyes are still intense, her voice earnest, her mouth turned down slightly in concern. ‘I just… I don't want you to think that I’m at all… embarrassed by you’. She says it like the idea pains her, her nose crinkling like she's smelled something bad. ‘You are… you’re wonderful, Pipsqueak. You’re talented in ways few can only dream of, and incredibly intelligent, even if you pretended to struggle with the course work sometimes’.

 

Pippa winks, partly to hide the emotions Hecate is stirring up in her chest. ‘Well, I didn't want to lose those study sessions, now did I?’

 

Hecate flushes again, but stammers on determinedly, like something has been released that she has to get out, that she can't contain, and Pippa has always loved how intensely Hecate feels about everything. ‘I’m not embarrassed. I’m… honoured’, she makes a frustrated sound, as if angry with herself for being unable to find the words, and Pippa leans in to kiss her cheek, hoping to soothe. Hecate swallows, lifts a hand to trace the line of her jaw with a tentative finger, and says, ‘I just find… I would like to keep you to myself for a while’.

 

Pippa grins, unable to help it, unable to help the delighted laugh that bursts from her. She takes one of Hecate’s hands, and presses it against her cheek, turns her head to kiss her palm, and says, ‘you will always have me, Hecate. You will always have my love’.

 

Hecate’s teeth dig into her lower lip, and when she leans in to kiss her, her words are almost lost. ‘Pippa’, she sighs, ‘Pipsqueak, my…’

 

Pippa's heart leaps, and she whispers, ‘yours’.

 

Hecate whimpers, presses closer, and somehow, all the years of separation and heartbreak, the strain of this recent chaos, seems so far away in the face of this moment, when Hecate kisses her, and breathes, ‘Pippa, My Pippa, my love, I could  _ never _ be embarrassed by you’. 

 

Pippa thinks she might be crying, even as her smile stretches so wide her cheeks ache, even as she kisses Hecate with an ecstatic laugh spilling between them, muffled when Hecate swallows the sound. She kisses Hecate with her hands wandering over her back, tracing the lines of her through the heavy fabric of her dress, curving at her hips and up the sides of her ribs, with Hecate making wonderous soft noises at the back of her throat, and Pippa can't remember the last time she felt so whole. 

 

She can, can remember it with startling clarity, squeezed into Hecate’s small bed, their legs tangled together, her face resting on her shoulder with Hecate’s hair brushing over her cheek.

 

She’s always needed Hecate, and even if she didn't know it, she’s always loved her.

 

* * *

 

Later, after Pippa has been granted permission to stay by a very enthusiastic, very smug looking fellow headmistress, after she’s returned to her school briefly to inform her deputy that she will be spending the last few days of term at elsewhere, after classes are finished and she’s shared a meal with the other teachers, after the sun has set and rounds are done, Pippa rises from her bed in the guest quarters, and transfers herself to Hecate’s room. 

 

Hecate looks up at her from her seat by the fire, and Pippa is left momentarily stunned by the sight of her, with her dark hair loose and falling down her shoulders, held out of her face by a few pins, and the warm firelight falling over her face. 

 

She swallows tightly, and breathes, ‘you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, Hecate’. 

 

Hecate flushes, a lovely colour in the firelight that makes Pippa think of ridiculously romantic things like the sky dusted with pink and gold from the sun as it dips down over the horizon. The woman looks up at her through her eyelashes, seemingly puzzled by the way she simply stands just inside the door, but Pippa wants to be sure of her invitation before she moves any closer. Hecate rises to her feet, and Pippa feels overwhelmed by her, by her beauty and her grace, by how much she loves her, and when she steps forward to meet her, Hecate lifts her hands, cups her face, and kisses her. 

 

Pippa kisses her back instantly, eagerly, lifting her hands to frame Hecate’s face, letting one slide back into her soft hair to cradle the back of her head, and Hecate sighs blissfully into her mouth. Pippa settles her other hand on Hecate’s waist, and murmurs, ‘do you still want me to stay?’

 

Hecate's breath trembles against her lips when she pauses, and she's so close that Pippa can feel the faint scrape of her teeth when she bites her own lip. ‘Yes’, she whispers, ‘yes. Please’.

 

Pippa smiles, strokes her fingers down through Hecate’s impossibly long hair, slides her hand back in to let her nails scrape lightly over her scalp, and murmurs, ‘I’m here’.

 

Hecate shivers, a strangled sound leaving her at the touch of her nails, and her hands move almost restlessly, uncertain of where to settle, grasping at her neck and her shoulders, at her upper arms and her waist, pressing at the dip of her lower back, and Pippa groans softly at the feel of her hands through her nightgown, and equally thin nightdress. Hecate’s fingers sweep up her back, her nails dragging over the fabric, and heat follows in their path at an intensity that would surprise Pippa, if it was anyone but Hecate touching her.

 

It isn't fair, really, that Hecate can have such an effect on her when she's barely touched her, and so she lifts her hand, pushes Hecate’s hair over her shoulder, takes her time stroking her fingers through it, trailing them over the long, graceful line of her neck, before she leans in, and presses her lips to the hinge of her jaw. Hecate shudders, inhaling sharply through her teeth, her fingers clutching at her back, and Pippa can't stop herself from smiling. 

 

Hecate tilts her head, allowing Pippa better access, and she makes a sound of approval as she trails kisses over her skin, soft and almost chaste at first, and then a little firmer, warm and open, flicking her tongue over the muscle at the joint of her neck and shoulder, scraping her teeth over it lightly when she closes her mouth, and Hecate makes a soft, decadent sound that curls hot and tight in her gut. ‘Pippa…’

 

‘Mmm?’ Pippa drops her hands to Hecate’s waist, pulls her closer against her own body, continues to map as much of her neck with her lips as she can without tugging on her heavy night dress. 

 

Hecate whimpers, tilts her hips forward, grasps at her back, and chokes, ‘I don't… I don't…’ 

 

Pippa pulls back immediately, keeping her hands on Hecate’s waist, but shifting so they're not pressed so tightly together, and says, ‘we don't have to do this, Hecate. Not tonight. Not if you don't want to’.

 

Hecate swallows, opening and closing her mouth several times, and embarrassment flushes in her cheeks and up her neck. ‘No, I… I do, I’m just…’ her blush darkens, ‘I don't… I haven't…’

 

Understanding dawns all at once, and her voice sounds a little higher with astonishment with she says, ‘you've never been with anyone?’

 

Hecate shakes her head, her words stilted, and murmurs, ‘no. I… no one has ever… ’ She glances up at her and away quickly, her back tensing, and says, ‘if that… if that’s a problem, I -’ 

 

Pippa leans in to kiss her quickly, keeping it soft and gentle, stroking her hands up and down her back until Hecate relaxes into it. ‘It isn’t’, Pippa says, pressing light kisses to her cheeks, ‘not at all. It’s just… I’ve been in love with you half my life, Hecate. The idea that… that no one could ever want you… it baffles me’. 

 

Hecate’s flush darkens, but the corner of her mouth ticks up, as if pleased. Her dark eyes move slowly over her face, and after a moment she says, a little haltingly, ‘maybe it was just that I didn’t want anyone else’. 

 

Pippa feels her eyes burn again, and her smile stretches so wide she’s sure it looks foolish, but it's hard to care with love and heat suffusing her chest, with Hecate giving her that small, shy smile, and so she kisses her again, kisses her again and again, the heat in her belly licking higher with every touch that passes between them, with every soft sound Hecate makes against her lips, and when she breaks away, she’s breathing a little heavily. ‘Hecate… do you want me to take you to bed?’

 

Hecate’s breath hitches, and she nods, her hands pressing at her shoulders, fingers dipping beneath her dressing gown, pushing until Pippa steps back and lets it slip from her shoulders, pooling on the floor around her ankles, leaving her in her thin, pale pink nightdress, and Hecate’s eyes widen slightly. Pippa smirks slightly, and teases, ‘what’s the matter, Hecate? Never seen a nightdress that doesn’t cover your whole body?’

 

‘No’, Hecate breathes, stepping closer to tentatively trace the exposed line of her collarbone, ‘it’s just… you’re so… so lovely’. 

 

Pippa bites her lip, leans in to kiss her, and says, ‘oh, darling, so are you’. 

 

Hecate kisses her back, her hands resting lightly on her shoulders, and mumbles, ‘Pippa… I…’

 

Pippa touches her chin, gently urging her to look up at her, and says, ‘do you want me to take care of you, Hecate? Do you want me to touch you?’

 

Hecate’s thumbs smooth over the bare skin at her shoulders, and Pippa shivers, both from the touch of her cool fingers and the look in her eyes, and nods. ‘Yes’, she says, her voice trembling faintly even as she shifts closer to kiss her again, ‘yes, Pippa. Please’. 

 

Pippa drops her hands to Hecate’s waist again, using her grip to guide her backwards towards the bed, and Hecate clutches at her, pulling her flush against her body, leaning in to kiss her again and again, and Pippa wonders if she can ever really express how long she’s longed for this, how long she’s dreamt of it, even in those years where she could barely think of Hecate without feeling her heart twist painfully between her ribs. 

 

But she doesn’t have to think about that right now, doesn’t have to think about it ever again, because Hecate is in her arms and they’re tumbling onto the bed and Pippa laughs when she gets the woman’s hair in her mouth, and she can feel Hecate’s small smile against her temple. 

 

She’s missed being able to make Hecate smile. 

 

She props herself up on one hand, leaning over Hecate with a wide smile, and pauses, struck dumb by how she looks like this, her cheeks still flushed from her earlier embarrassment, her dark hair spread out over her sheets, gazing up at her with something Pippa can’t quite name. Pippa bites her lip, reaching out to stroke Hecate’s hair off her face, sliding her fingers around to pull out the pins holding back the few locks from her face, and murmurs, ‘you’re beautiful, Hiccup’. 

 

Hecate scoffs, her fingers running up the back of her nightdress, pausing where the material ends at her shoulder blades. ‘You’ve said that already’. 

 

‘And I’ll say it again’. Pippa leans in to kiss her, nibbling lightly on her lower lip, dragging her thumb down her neck. ‘Beautiful’. 

 

Hecate’s lips part beneath her own, warm and supple and welcoming, and she moans softly when their tongues brush together. ‘Pippa’, she gasps, her cool fingers sliding slowly up the bare skin over her spine, leaving goosebumps in their wake, ‘Pipsqueak’. 

 

Pippa strokes her thumb back and forth over Hecate’s neck, just above where the collar of her dress, and says softly. ‘I’m here, Hecate. I’m right here’. 

 

She doesn’t know what possesses her to say it, not really, but there is a sense of unrealness about this, that it might be a dream she’ll despair waking from, and perhaps Hecate feels the same, because she seems to relax further into the bed, and her free hand comes up to tangle in Pippa’s loosely braided hair. She draws her fingers down, and makes a noise of frustration when her fingers are stilled by the plait, and Pippa chuckles against her mouth, leaning back to look down at her with a smile. Hecate gazes up at her with heat in her eyes, and tugs at the end of her plait. ‘Take… take this out?’ 

 

Pippa smiles, delighted that Hecate letting herself ask for what she wants, and shifts her weight back to straddle the woman’s hips, reaching up to unwind her plait. She could easily do it with magic, but Hecate’s eyelids flutter when she settles on top of her, her hands dropping to her hips, and really, there’s no harm in teasing her. 

 

Hecate’s hands remain firmly planted on her hips while she undoes her hair, combing her fingers through the strands as she unwinds them, but her bottom lip is caught between her teeth, her hips squirming slightly, and Pippa smiles. ‘You can touch me, you know’. 

 

The hands on her waist slide slowly higher, and Pippa can feel how they're shaking. Hecate pauses, her fingers curled around her ribs, and Pippa sees a flicker of intense want in her eyes before she closes them, and takes a slow deep breath. Her jaw works, a sure sign that she's trying to regain some control, and her voice is a little hoarse when she says, ‘Pippa, I… I want…’

 

Pippa leans down, cupping her cheeks, her hair falling down to curtain their faces, and kisses her. She kisses her with her nails scratching lightly at her neck, and when she pulls back, she nips lightly at her lower lip. ‘What do you want?’

 

She can hear the slightly ragged edge to Hecate’s breathing as the woman struggles to find her words, and Pippa ducks down to trail soft kisses over the sharp line of her jaw. Hecate makes a choked off sound half way between a whimper and a moan that goes right to Pippa’s gut, and she whines, ‘Pipsqueak…’ 

 

Pippa’s lips curl, and she tilts her head to begin her descent down her neck, letting her teeth scrape against her skin, and murmurs, ‘yes?’

 

Hecate’s hips twitch beneath her, and her hands slide over her back, her nails digging in to her shoulders lightly, fingers catching in the straps of her bra and nightdress, and she croaks, ‘off’. 

 

Pippa nips lightly at the place behind Hecate’s ear, relishing in the gasp it elicits, and says, ‘yours? Or mine?’

 

She can feel the way Hecate’s throat works as she swallows, hear the ragged pitch to her breathing, and she’s delighted by how responsive she is, by how much of an affect she’s had on her, when Hecate is still entirely clothed. 

 

Though if the dampness between her own legs is anything to go by, she’s not much better off. 

 

Hecate’s fingers flex on her back, and Pippa gasps at the feel of the woman’s magic sparking against her skin, an oddly pleasurably sensation that has her arching her back, pressing her hips down, and it’s only then that she registers that Hecate has vanished their nightdresses, leaving them in their underwear. She groans against Hecate’s neck as their bare skin slides together, and for all her dreams about this, she never imagined how soft Hecate’s skin would be. ‘Hecate…’

 

‘I’m sorry’, Hecate sounds strained with worry, even as she grasps at her back to pull her closer, ‘I should’ve asked’. 

 

Pippa shakes her head, pressing her lips eagerly against the newly exposed skin, running her hands slowly up Hecate’s bare arms, her heart beating a staccato rhythm against her ribs at the knowledge that all she has to do is lean back, and she’ll be able to see Hecate almost entirely bare beneath her. ‘Darling, I’m not complaining’. 

 

She reaches up, curling her fingers around Hecate’s jaw to tilt her head, and continues her path down her neck, nipping and sucking lightly, dragging her teeth over the places that make Hecate squirm just a bit more, that make her gasp and moan and clutch at her back, and her free hand wanders up her waist. Pippa groans at the feel of Hecate’s soft skin under her hand, at the tremble she can feel in the muscles of her stomach, and she breathes out against her skin, ‘touch me, Hecate’. 

 

Hecate’s hands move, as if all she needed was the request, and her hands begin to roam over her back. There is a spark of magic against Pippa’s skin, and when Hecate rakes her nails lightly down her ribs, they’re shortened. Pippa shivers, chuckling softly as Hecate grows a little more confident, her touches becoming firmer, and she responds by shifting a little further down the bed, mapping a path from her neck over her collarbone, and pauses when her tongue touches the strap of her bra. She glances up at Hecate, and then pushes herself up, staring down at the woman spread out below her, curling her finger underneath the strap. ‘Can I take this off?’

 

Hecate’s lips are swollen, her cheeks flushed and her eyes dark, and Pippa reaches out to run her thumb over her bottom lip. Hecate swallows, and her tongue darts out to flick at the pad of finger. She reaches up, and tugs at Pippa’s bra. ‘Yes. Can… can I… can you take yours off, too?’

 

Pippa beams. She leans down to kiss Hecate, balancing up on her knees with her body curved over her, and reaches behind herself to undo her bra, flinging it over the side of the bed. She settles onto Hecate’s hips again, kissing her softly, and takes Hecate’s trembling hands, and places them over her own breasts, biting back a soft moan at the contact. Hecate gasps against her lips, and Pippa murmurs, ‘you just had to ask’. 

 

‘I didn’t…  I’m not…’ Hecate’s voice is a little choked, her breath shaky against her cheek as she flexes her fingers experimentally, and if it were anyone else, Pippa might tease her for her speechlessness. 

 

But she can’t, not when she can see the heat in Hecate’s eyes, the wonder, not when her face is soft and open. Instead, she leans up, biting her lip as Hecate’s touch becomes a little firmer, her fingers flexing, her thumbs skirting lightly over her nipples in a way that makes her shiver, and says, ‘you’re not what?’

 

Hecate closes her eyes, her teeth digging into her lower lip, and Pippa traces her fingers along her bra straps, following the edges of the simple black garment, and Hecate whimpers. ‘I… I’m not good at… at asking’. 

 

Pippa leans down to kiss her again, drawing her lower lip into her mouth, kissing her with her hands resting on her shoulders, and murmurs, ‘you’re doing fine, my darling’. 

 

She’s not sure exactly what does it, whether it’s the affirmation of the term of affection, but Hecate whimpers against her mouth and surges upright until Pippa is straddling her lap, and those cool, trembling hands are in her hair and her kiss is insistent and a little frenzied, and Pippa moans softly into her mouth, tilting her hips forward as she twines her fingers into Hecate’s long, thick hair. ‘Pippa’, Hecate breathes, her nose bumping against her cheek when she dips in to kiss her again, ‘Pippa… Pippa, please. Please’. 

 

Pippa cups the back of her head, deftly unclasps her bra, and murmurs, ‘I’ve got you, Hecate, I’ve got you’. 

 

She flings the bra away, arches her back to bring their bodies flush together, and the moan that escapes her at the glorious, silky warm press of skin is drowned out by the sound like a sob that bursts from Hecate’s lips. Her fingers tug clumsily at Pippa’s hair, and Pippa presses closer, curls her fingers lightly against Hecate’s neck, tilts her head up with her thumbs and kisses her for all she’s worth. 

 

It’s a strange thing, to know that there is no need to rush, that they have time, and yet to feel this urgency bubbling in her fingers, this terribly overwhelming desire to be as close as she can, to learn every inch and every line of Hecate’s body now, at once, like she can erase all the empty years between them. 

 

Goddess, she’s  _ missed _ her. 

 

Pippa pushes Hecate down with her hands on her shoulders, arches her back and presses their bodies close, and Hecate whimpers, her nails digging into her back as she clutches at her, like she can’t bare an inch of space between them. Pippa breaks away to kiss along the glorious line of her jaw, raking her teeth along the sensitive skin, nipping a path down her neck, sliding her hands down to skim her fingers lightly over the sides of her breasts, full and soft under her hands, slips her hands between their bodies to cup them firmly, and Hecate arches up into her with a moan. It’s high and ragged and goes straight to the coiling heat between Pippa’s thighs, pulls a moan of her own from her lips.

 

Pippa wants to learn her and consume her all at once, and it’s almost hard to know where to begin, to know where to start fulfilling that long held desire to simply  _ have _ Hecate, and the thought that she can, that she  _ does _ , has her muffling a whimper against the woman’s collarbone, tracing the line with her lips and her tongue, listening to the breathless, almost astonished sounds Hecate makes above her. 

 

‘Pip… Pippa…’ Hecate’s hands press and grasp at her shoulders, slide up to twist into her hair, the heels of her hands pressing, just a little. ‘I… please… I don’t…’ 

 

Pippa shifts a little further down, resting against Hecate’s body, flush between her legs, and leans in to press an almost chaste kiss to the swell of her breast, nuzzling against soft flesh, before she tilts her head and flicks her tongue against one pebbled nipple. Hecate jolts, a muffled cry leaving her, and when Pippa murmurs , ‘my beautiful, darling Hecate’, the cry turns to a sob. Hecate trembles beneath her, and part of Pippa knows that it's not just to do with the physical sensations she's feeling. 

 

She knows, she understands, because there is so much emotion brimming inside her that she feels like it could leave her as a physical force if she's not careful.

 

And she is careful in the way she touches Hecate, firm but gentle, scraping her teeth lightly against her nipple before she soothes with her tongue, skimming her fingers slowly in increasingly smaller circles over her other breast, down to trace the lines in her stomach, up the slant of her hip bone, and up again. She’s careful and almost reverent in the way she touches her, because she loves her with everything she is, and she just wants to make her feel good.

 

‘Pippa… Pippa…’ Hecate breathes her name at the start of every ragged exhale, her fingers stroking shakily through her hair as Pippa switches to her other breast, her voice pitched high with want, shaking with emotion, ‘Pippa…’ 

 

Pippa presses her lips to the underside of Hecate’s breast, and begins a path over her ribs, murmuring words of devotion that she tucks between her ribs with each swipe of her tongue, her hands kneading at her hips, at the trembling thighs on either side of her that shift a little wider, and she can feel the heat of her against her stomach through her underwear. 

 

The realisation, the feel, of how good she’s making Hecate feel, of how aroused she is, has Pippa pausing to groan against Hecate’s skin, her own breath shaky as she exhales, her forehead pressed against Hecate’s sternum. She bites her lip, and rocks her body forward experimentally, pressing herself against the hot centre of her. Hecate gasps, a sharp, garbled sound, rocking her hips upwards, and Pippa strokes her thighs reassuringly. ‘Do you want more, Hecate?’

 

Hecate nods, her hair spilling down over her shoulders, and croaks, ‘yes. Please, Pippa’.

 

Pippa kisses her ribs, squeezes the muscles in her thighs, and begins to shift down. 

 

‘Wait’. 

 

Pippa pauses, glancing up at Hecate quickly, propping her chin on her sternum. Hecate's eyes are wide and dark, and she's panting, but there is something else in her eyes. She frowns slightly, tracing absent patterns on her hip, the shapes of flowers and plants, random words for incantations she memorised long ago, and says, ‘Hecate? What is it?’

 

Hecate swallows, breathing in deeply as she tries to catch her breath, and her fingers drift through her hair. ‘I… can you… can you stay up here?’

 

Pippa blinks, rising to shuffle up the bed and lay down, her leg hooked over Hecate’s, hip to opposite hip, and props herself up on her elbow. ‘Is everything alright, my darling? Do you want to stop?’ 

 

‘No’. Hecate shakes her head fervently, her voice pitching a little higher in panic. ‘No, I just… I need you up here. Please’.

 

Pippa leans in to kiss Hecate, a hand on her jaw, and allows herself to be reassured that Hecate does want her to continue by the eager, desperate way she kisses her back. ‘Of course’, she murmurs, sucking Hecate’s lower lip gently into her mouth, shifting so that she's pressed fully against her again. ‘Well done for asking’.

 

Hecate inhales sharply, rocks herself upwards, hands sweeping down her back to clutch at her hips, and Pippa moans softly at the blunt rake of nails. There is a spark of magic against her skin, and the skin of their hips make contact as Hecate vanishes her underwear. Pippa is tempted to do the same, simply to get some relief from the burning heat between her own thighs, but instead, she turns her attention back to Hecate, and the blissful reality that the woman is completely bare beneath her. 

 

She stays above Hecate, stroking her hand down slowly, tracing the line of her collarbone and the curve of her breast, squeezing at her hip, ambling down to her goal without any rush, even as Hecate’s breath trembles against her lips, even with her want brimming over in her mouth. 

 

And when she finally does brush her fingers through damp curls to touch the slick heat between Hecate’s thighs, she’s not sure which of them is more affected.

 

Hecate whimpers, her nails digging into Pippa’s back, and Pippa groans, has to stop to steady herself, her pulse thundering in her throat, to gasp, ‘oh, Hecate, you’re so wet for me’.

 

Hecate blushes, a lovely, darker colour than the heat already in her cheeks, averting her eyes, but when she speaks, it's to whisper, ‘it is. For you’.

 

Pippa captures her swollen bottom lip in a fierce, wet kiss, and breathes, ‘my Hecate’.

 

A whimper. ‘Yes’, the hands on her back press and tug, trying to pull her closer, ‘yours’. Pippa hums her approval, slides her fingers down, stroking lightly against swollen folds, her head spinning with want, and she digs her teeth into her lower lip when Hecate rocks her hips upwards. ‘Pippa… please. Don’t… don’t tease’. 

 

Pippa chuckles, but she takes the request seriously, leaning in to kiss her sweetly. Hecate’s hand slides from her back down her arm, grips lightly just above her elbow. Pippa pulls back slightly, staring down at Hecate unabashedly, taking in the vision lying beneath her. Hecate swallows, and lifts a trembling hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. Pippa smiles, turns her head quickly to kiss her hand as she pulls it away, and slowly, gently, eases a finger inside her. 

 

Hecate groans, a low, drawn out sound, and Pippa bites her lip, captivated by the raw, exposed pleasure in the woman’s face, by how much she’s making her feel, by  _ her _ , by the slick heat of her around her finger, and she leans down to press kisses to her neck again. ‘My beautiful girl’, she whispers, cupping Hecate with the palm of her hand as she draws her finger out a little, sliding back in slowly, ‘how does that feel?’

 

Hecate shifts, her legs parting a little wider, her breathing shaky against her ear, and nods. ‘Yes’, she whines, her hand curling tighter around her arm, too far gone to answer her question properly, ‘I… Pippa…’ 

 

Pippa presses a hot, open mouthed kiss to the sensitive place behind her jaw, drawing a whimper from the woman beneath her, and shifts so that she can use her free hand to draw one of Hecate’s long legs over her hip. She slides her finger deeper, presses her palm against Hecate’s clit, and Hecate moans into her hair. 

 

Hecate is more vocal than Pippa was expecting, releasing a stream of continuous moans and whimpers and breathless sighs against her hair that resound in Pippa’s chest, that throb between her thighs, and Pippa strokes along her thigh with her free hand, pulls her closer, and Hecate lifts her other leg to wrap them both around her body. Pippa’s head spins, overwhelmed with having Hecate wrapped around her like this, soft and warm and trembling, utterly surrounded by her. She nips at her neck, and breathes, ‘another?’

 

Hecate doesn’t respond with words, just grasps at her shoulders, at her arm, rocks her hips upwards, and Pippa adds another, stretches Hecate around her fingers, groans at the feel of her. Hecate shudders and arches up into her, grips her tighter with her trembling thighs, moans her name at a higher pitch, and Pippa can feel the muscles in her body tensing where they’re pressed together. ‘That’s it, Hecate’, she pants, working her fingers in a steady rhythm, sliding in deep before she draws back out, her palm slick, ‘you’re so beautiful like this. Always so beautiful’. 

 

‘Pippa…  _ hmmnn…  _ Pip…  _ ha _ … Pipsqueak…’ 

 

Pippa lifts her head from Hecate’s neck to look at her face, and her stomach jolts at the sight of her, her brow furrowed and her mouth parted, lips swollen from kisses, her skin glowing, and she leans in to kiss her fiercely. Hecate moans into her mouth, and Pippa can tell she’s close. ‘Are you going to come for me, Hiccup?’

 

‘Pippa’, Hecate gasps, her body arching, hips bucking frantically against her hand, gripping her arm desperately, ‘Pippa, please, I - I can't -’

 

‘Yes, you can’, Pippa curls her fingers, reaches as deep as she can, presses her thumb against her clit, rubs in tight, uneven circles, ‘you can, my darling, you can come’.

 

Hecate whimpers, her face and chest flushed with exertion, a faint sheen of sweat gleaming on her marble white skin, her brow furrowed tightly. ‘How?’ she whines, her nails digging in, a sting that makes the heat between Pippa’s thighs throb, ‘how, Pippa… I don’t…’ 

 

Pippa leans in to kiss her, licking into her mouth until Hecate moans helplessly, and says, ‘just let go, Hecate’. 

 

Hecate closes her eyes, and Pippa slides her free hand into her hair, cupping the back of her neck so that she can press their foreheads together. It leaves her balanced on her elbow, the muscles in her arm and shoulders trembling with the effort, and she presses her lips against Hecate’s cheek. ‘I’m right here, Hiccup’, she murmurs, working her fingers a little faster, a little harder, ‘just let go, my beautiful girl, my good girl, my -’ 

 

Hecate’s body snaps taunt, arches up off the bed in a glorious curve, and she keens, a high, delirious sound that pulls a cry from Pippa’s lips as she presses forward to kiss along the tendons in her neck, guiding Hecate through her pleasure with her mouth and her hands, until she sags, and the keening turns into sobbing. 

 

‘Oh, Hiccup’, Pippa withdraws to wrap her arm around Hecate’s back, drawing her close to her body, stroking her fingers through the damp hair at the nape of her neck, ‘it’s alright, my darling’. 

 

Hecate buries her face in her shoulder, releasing her death grip on her arm to wrap both of them around her neck, clinging to her as her body continues to tremble, and she mumbles, ‘I’m sorry… I’m… I’m making a fool of myself again’. 

 

Pippa shakes her head, relaxes so that she’s pressing Hecate into the bed with her body, and whispers, ‘no, you’re not. You’re wonderful’. 

 

Hecate shudders in her arms, and Pippa strokes her hair gently, murmuring soft reassurances and gentle praises against her cheek, tasting the sweat of her skin and the salt of her tears. She doubts that this is simply because of the emotions that come with sex, wouldn't be surprised to learn its from the build up of everything that's happened over the last few days, from the taxing nature of their earlier conversation. Hecate cries and cries and Pippa holds her and really, she can only be thankful that she can be here to do so.

 

After some time, Hecate falls silent with a final sniffle. Pippa pulls back to look down at her, stroking her fingers gently over her cheeks. ‘Are you alright, Hiccup?’

 

Hecate nods, her cheeks flushing as she averts her gaze, and she mumbles, ‘that was…’ 

 

‘Nice, I hope’, Pippa interjects, hoping to stop a potential spiral down into shame or embarrassment. ‘I’ve been thinking about doing that for a long time. I’d hate to disappoint’. 

 

Hecate’s eyes widen, and she shakes her head. ‘You could never disappoint’. 

 

Pippa smiles. ‘So it was good?’

 

Hecate bites her lip, and her smile is small and shy. ‘It was. Very good. I…’ she swallows, her words a little stilted, but Pippa has never been bothered by her awkwardness. ‘Thank you’. 

 

Pippa leans in to kiss her sweetly, shifting slightly so that she’s not lying completely on top of Hecate, their legs tangled together, and rests her head on the pillow beside her. ‘The pleasure was all mine’. She giggles, stroking her fingers absently along Hecate’s hip. ‘Well, not all of it’. 

 

As she says it, she becomes aware, all at once, of the extent of her own arousal, and shifts in an attempt to get some relief, wincing slightly as the soaked material of her underwear rubs against her. Hecate glances at her quickly, clearly concerned. ‘Pippa? What is it?’

 

‘Oh, nothing to worry about, darling’. Pippa smiles, leaning in to nuzzle her nose against Hecate’s cheek. ‘I just rather liked doing that to you’. 

Hecate blinks, and understanding dawns in her eyes as she looks down. Her fingers trace a tentative line down her ribs, pausing at her hip, where their bodies are pressed tight together, and Pippa props herself up on her elbow to watch her face when she tilts her body sideways, allowing Hecate to reach lower. 

 

It's hard to keep her eyes on Hecate’s face when her fingers brush against her sex, the responding flare of pleasure pulling a soft moan from her throat. Her eyes flutter, and she catches sight of the almost awed expression on Hecate’s face as her fingers skate through damp curls to touch her swollen folds. Pippa knows how wet she is, and its wonderfully gratifying to see how much it affects Hecate. ‘Pippa…’ she breathes, her voice still hoarse, ‘I… is this…’

 

‘All you, Hecate’. 

 

Hecate blushes, her eyes glinting with fresh want, and she skims her fingers back and forth lightly over her sex. Pippa whimpers at the barely present pressure, rocking her hips forwards against Hecate's hand and body, and Hecate groans. 'Pippa... how do I... I want to...'   
  
Pippa smiles lazily, shifting to bring her knee up, her leg flung over Hecate's hips, opening herself up for her. 'You don't have to, Hecate'.   
  
'But I want to', Hecate insists, pressing her fingers a little more firmly, 'I just... I don't know how'.   
  
Pippa bites her lip, strokes her fingers through Hecate's hair, and murmurs, 'well, having you here is almost enough in itself'.   
  
Hecate flushes darker, leaning in to kiss her fiercely, and whispers, 'Pippa, please. Show me'.

 

Pippa groans, pressing herself closer, and reaches down to curve her fingers over the back of Hecate’s hand. She guides her fingers through her slick folds, turning her face into Hecate’s hair to muffle the moan bubbling up in her throat, and Hecate turns her head, pressing light, tentative kisses against her throat. Pippa shudders, lets go to clutch at the bedsheet beside Hecate’s head, and sucks in a ragged breath when the woman slides a finger inside her. There’s little resistance, and she rocks her hips forward, breathing shakily through her mouth, and murmurs, ‘that’s it, Hiccup, like that… just a little more’. 

 

Hecate whimpers against her throat, adds a second finger at the request, and Pippa knows she won’t last long, not with Hecate’s fingers working slowly but firmly inside her, not with her lips on her neck and the faint scrape of teeth against her skin. The heat in her lower belly is almost unbearable, and there are too many years of want and need bubbling under her skin to attempt to drag it out. 

 

Despite her confessed inexperience, Hecate has no trouble at all guiding her towards a rapidly approaching peak, taking her cues from the sounds Pippa makes, throaty moans she spills into her hair, rocking herself back and forth to grind against Hecate’s hand, against her nimble, skillful fingers. Pippa lifts her head to kiss Hecate messily, clutching at the sheets and the long hair twisted around her fingers, arching her back when Hecate’s free hand runs down her back to grasp at her ass, and she chokes a laugh against her lips. ‘Oh, Hiccup’, she gasps, vaguely aware that she’s grinding unabashedly down against the woman's body, ‘you -  _ mmm _ \- good -  _ ah _ …’ 

 

Hecate’s teeth dig in to the junction of her neck and shoulder, her thumb brushing clumsily over her clit, and she whines, ‘Pipsqueak…’ 

 

And she’s gone. Just like that, the heat building inside her reaches a peak, snaps, flings her over into the abyss and leaves her shuddering in Hecate’s arms, her mouth open against her shoulder in a silent, soundless cry. 

 

She sags all at once, unable to stop herself from collapsing down on top of Hecate with a breathless groan. Hecate’s breath trembles against her temple, her arms locked tight around her back, and Pippa settles heavily into her embrace, tucking herself against the crook of her shoulder. She can feel the trembling in her own body, the still twitching muscles in Hecate’s arms, the shallow rise and fall of her breast against her own. She's soft and warm and Pippa smiles against her neck, and murmurs, ‘that was nice’.

 

Hecate makes a soft, amused sound, and Pippa smiles in response. She hears Hecate swallow tightly, and the woman says, ‘was… was I…?’

 

‘You were wonderful’, Pippa presses a lazy kiss to Hecate’s neck, another to the hinge of her jaw, before she lifts her head to kiss her slowly. Hecate sighs against her mouth, her grip on her loosening slightly, and Pippa hums. ‘Marvelous’, she says, waving her hand casually, letting her magic spark along her fingers, to leave them clean and dry in the twisted sheets, ‘divine, absolutely -’ 

 

‘Alright, Pipsqueak’, Hecate mumbles, her cheeks flushed with fresh embarrassment, ‘no need to over do it’. 

 

Pippa shakes her head, kisses her again, lazy, languid, looping her arm around Hecate’s neck, and murmurs, ‘but you are. Absolutely divine’. She rolls onto her side so that she can look at Hecate’s face more easily, reaching out to stroke along her neck, tracing the fading marks of her own teeth, and says, ‘and a girl is allowed to be a little sappy when she’s in love’. 

 

Hecate smiles, that soft, wonderful smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes, and when she rolls over to move closer, Pippa tangles their legs together, and leans in to kiss her sweetly. Hecate kisses her back, a little desperately, her arm wrapping tightly around her waist, and Pippa murmurs, ‘I’m not going anywhere, Hiccup. I promise’. 

 

Hecate sighs, rests their foreheads together as she reaches down to draw the covers up over their cooling bodies. ‘I… I know. I’m sorry, it’s silly. I just…’ 

 

Pippa strokes her fingers through Hecate’s hair, kisses her cheek, finds her other hand between their bodies and clasps it tightly. ‘What?’

 

‘I…’ Hecate averts her eyes, that ashamed look that Pippa wishes she could avail, ‘I’ve… had dreams like this before. And when I wake up…’ 

 

‘Oh Hiccup’, Pippa scoots closer, cups Hecate’s cheek gently, and murmurs, ‘I have, too’. 

 

Hecate blinks, looks up at her again with something like relief, and pressed so close, Pippa can feel the way the woman’s body relaxes into her. ‘Oh. Well, that makes me feel less…’ 

 

‘Silly?’ Pippa chuckles softly. ‘You’re not silly, my darling. And I will be here in the morning’. 

 

Hecate’s brow furrows slightly, and she says quietly, ‘I… you should know, I haven’t been… sleeping well. If I disturb you, I… I’m sorry’. 

 

Pippa frowns, squeezing her hand where its trapped between their bodies. ‘Are you having nightmares again?’

 

Hecate’s jaw clenches, and she nods, a short, sharp movement. Pippa bites her lip, remembering how Hecate was prone to nightmares during times of stress when she was a child, remembering how earlier, she retreated into herself, and that she didn’t know why, or how to help her, remembering everything that happened with Agatha, everything outside this little bubble of bliss between them. 

 

‘Is there anything I can do?’ she murmurs, shifting closer automatically, releasing Hecate’s hand where it’s clasped between them to press her own against the other woman’s chest. Hecate’s heart beat has calmed, strong and steady beneath her palm, and Hecate covers her hand with her own. 

 

‘No. But… it might be better with you here, anyway’. Hecate manages a small smile, and even if its a little shaky, the affection behind her eyes tells Pippa everything she needs to know. ‘I didn’t have them as often when you were with me’. 

 

Pippa smiles, leans in to kiss Hecate’s cheek, settles close against her so that they’re sharing the same breath, so that their foreheads are touching, locks of hair intertwining against the pillows as their bodies press together, and murmurs, ‘I’m right here, my darling. And I’m not going anywhere’. 

 

Hecate’s breath trembles against her cheek, and she squeezes her hand against her chest. She tilts her chin up to kiss Pippa’s cheek, a hesitant, almost clumsy display of affection that sends Pippa’s heart soaring, and says, ‘I… I won't leave you, either. I won't… not again. I won't run. I…’ 

 

‘I know’, Pippa soothes, and she does, now. Now that she knows why Hecate really left, why she really ran, any fear that she might do it again has left her. ‘I know’.

 

Hecate bites her lip, presses her forehead against her own a little harder, slides the hand not holding Pippa’s to her heart up her back to settle against her neck, and Pippa smiles encouragingly when Hecate curls a lock of her hair around her finger. Hecate swallows, and breathes, ‘my Pippa’. 

 

She says it like she’s tasting the phrase, accustoming herself to the weight of it on her tongue, and Pippa sighs happily. ‘Yes, love. Yours’. 

 

Hecate kisses her, still a little hesitant, chaste and sweet, and says slowly, ‘thank you for… for coming here, when you heard. I…’ she pauses, seems to consider her words, and then simply says, ‘I love you, Pipsqueak’. 

 

Pippa beams at her, wonders if it’s possible to overflow with love, if there is any containing how much she loves Hecate, and says, ‘oh Hiccup, I love you too’. 

 

She shifts, rolling onto her back and drawing Hecate with her, pillowing the woman’s head with her shoulder, and Hecate sighs against her collarbone, a soft, contented sound. Her long hair spills out over Pippa’s arm when she wraps it around the woman’s back, and she intertwines the fingers of their free hands together under the covers. Hecate shifts, tangling their legs together, and Pippa presses a kiss to her forehead. ‘Is this alright?’

 

Hecate nods, a heavy, slow movement, and her voice sounds a little slurred with exhaustion when she says, ‘yes. Thank you’. 

 

Pippa chuckles lightly, her own eyelids beginning to droop, and thinks of how many times they fell asleep tangled together in tiny beds when they were girls. How simple it was, to fall asleep with Hecate, even before she really understood the depth of her feelings. 

 

How easy it is to do so, now. 

 

‘Sleep well, my darling’. 

 

Hecate makes a gentle snuffling sound, presses a clumsy kiss to her shoulder, and mumbles, ‘sleep well, my love’. 

 

For all her warnings, Hecate sleeps like a baby. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> listen im so emotional about hecate in that final I'm still not over it she was so aLONE and trying to proTECT the girls and compromising herself to do so and helping agatha because if she didn't the girls would've been killed and she probably feels so GUILTY because she couldn't do anything while she was in the painting and dhsfkjshf
> 
> anyway pippa makes makes things better and they're in love thanks 
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed this!!! it ended up being longer than i meant it to be because i decided to add smut which i hope was enjoyable. might write a hicsqueak fic with angst alla broomhead next we shall see but this won't be the last thing i write for them


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